Porsche 911 GT3 sticks to naturally aspirated engines, says no to turbocharged units for now

Porsche recently decided that they will stick to their roots as long as they possibly could, and I mean as long as the market allows it. The automaker is assuring its buyers that it is still committed to rear-mounted, naturally aspirated engines as well as manual gearboxes despite the news circulating that the new 911 GT3 is allegedly gaining a turbocharged engine, while losing the manual gearbox.

Dr. Frank Steffen Walliser, Porsche’s head of GT motorsport and GT road cars, in his interview with Australian publication Drive during the Bathurst 12 Hour, denied reports of a fully turbocharged engine lineup.

The said engine lineup will likely be paired with an aluminum architecture shared with other cars like the Audi R8 and the Lamborghini Huracan. He added that a sports car will fit a normally aspirated engine, and that with a turbocharged engine, performance will be different. Furthermore, he states that the automaker will continue using naturally aspirated engines as long as they could.

When Wallister was asked if Porsche would consider mounting the engine closer to the center of the car, which is far from its traditional layout (or behind the rear axle), he responded by saying that the engine is currently located in the in the right part of the car, which is by the back.

This has been Porsche’s layout for the longest time and has been part of their tradition, while also making them unique too. He continues by saying that “it’s a GT3 manual” and it is precise. So it seems like Wallister has no plans on changing anything to Porsche cars, because he claims that it still is a light engine.

In contrary to what Wallister has been saying, the new 911 GT3 will allegedly ditch its high revving naturally aspired 4.0 liter flat six engine, and instead come with a more powerful turbocharged unit. With the new engine, we expect it to have 10 percent more power than the current engine that has an output of 500 horsepower (368 kilowatts). This means that power will likely increase to 550 horsepower (410 kilowatts).

If the automaker really shifts to a turbocharged engine in the new GT3, they will probably also use more lightweight materials. At the time of writing, we already know that the new 911 GT3 will have more power and can move quicker than the outgoing model, but we will have to wait until the automaker reveals this car before we make any more assumptions.

For now, since the 911 GT3 has not been released yet, we will have to believe Wallister’s statement - that they will remain true to their roots until emissions laws make it impossible for them to use naturally aspirated engines on sports cars.